hilkat

When it comes to style, I’m many things, but a snob isn’t one of them. I’m not too proud to shop in charity shops, and I’m certainly not one of those girls who steers away from Primark, citing it, “not real fashion”. I’m at the front of the queue, battling for cheap pieces with the best of them (although, let it be known I’ve got no problems in paying a bit more for something if I think it’s worth it - this just doesn’t happen very often), and my motto has always been, “quantity not quality”. In the past I’ve read articles on ‘investing’ in (read: remortgaging the house in order to be able to afford) ‘classic’ pieces and creating a ‘capsule wardrobe’. My brain simply shuts down, and refuses to process the information.

Which is why I can honestly say that this outfit (one of my favourites, actually) came to a grand total of twenty quid (excluding the shoes), and is head to toe Primark. I don’t care what anyone says - they sell some really nice pieces which are ideal for mixing up and rewearing in a completely different way. I’d like to see you do that with a six-piece wardrobe.

On an ASOS clickfest the other day, I stumbled across the amazing A.Y. Not Dead, a label that is so cool, with clothes that are so wonderful, it made me dribble slightly. (Ok, not really, but I’m sure you know what I mean). ASOS had a few of their pieces in stock, and I’ve picked out my favourites (as per usual), which was actually pretty hard as it was all so covetable.

Each piece is unique in its own way, whether through a slogan on a t-shirt, embellishment on a top or fringing on a skirt - it’s the kind of style that I like without really knowing why. It’s a little bit indie, a little bit eclectic and a teeny smidge rock and roll, all mixed up together in one fabulous sartorial package.

Obviously, what I found on ASOS simply wasn’t enough for me, so I did a little clickety-click internet research and ended up on their website, a plethora of conceptual fashion mixed with don’t care attitude. The clothes on ASOS actually come from a collection called Party and Revolution Now, and I simply had to do a few screen grabs from the lookbook… (note: A.Y. Not Dead do also design menswear, however I don’t blog about menswear…. there - I said it….)

The campaign was amazing, and I strongly urge you to visit their website to see it - I would post pictures but this entry seems to be taking on a life of it’s own already…

The press page of the website was impressively detailed, which made me feel even more shameful that somehow I’d managed to pass them by - Elle covered them back in 2006, for example. Cue red face. The one thing I couldn’t find, however, was who was behind the Buenos Aires based label, but after a bit of digging (I even joined their Facebook page on my travels), I discovered, thanks to a lot of persistence and a little translating, that the label is made up of brothers Martin, Diego and Noel Romero and designer Chevalier Angeles. Guys, we salute you.

While I was researching my post on Madeleine Vionnet, I stumbled across the fact that at the same museum in Paris where the Vionnet exhibition was being held, there was also a Toulouse-Lautrec display nearby. Lautrec is more widely known since his inclusion in Baz Luhrmann’s hit film Moulin Rouge, but prior to that he was a world renowned painter and illustrator, whose works have been known to fetch up to $22.4million at auction.

The exhibition, held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, runs until 3rd January 2010, and includes 26 of Lautrec’s most famous works. For more information, visit the museum website.

They came home with me on Saturday and were debuted at work yesterday. Not only did I have people coming up to me and asking me where I got them from (I’m always the asker and not the ask-ee) but they were ridiculously comfortable, even sans socks, all day. Dorothy Perkins - we salute you.

For a while now, I’ve had ‘books’ in my list of site links, which in theory leads to an extensive collection of fashion-related book reviews. In reality, it’s empty. It’s not that I don’t read or look at many fashion books, it’s actually more to do with the fact that I’m too busy either reading them or blogging about other things. So I’m now making a conscious effort to bring some literary love to Hilkat, and am planning on making regular posts on numerous books related to fashion, both fiction and non-fiction.

I’m starting with one of the best coffee table tomes I’ve bought in a long while, full of fantastic photographs and in-depth interviews with individuals from all walks of the fashion industry - it can only be ‘Influence’ by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Over the years the Olsen twins have gone from tiny actresses to savvy businesswomen to fully fledged fashion icons, and have managed to avoid the tacky ‘falling out of nightclubs’ paparazzi shots and drugs scandals along the way. The girls certainly aren’t afraid of hard work, and it shows through in the conversations with sartorial greats such as John Galliano, Lauren Hutton, Terry Richardson and Giambattista Valli, to name but a few - their love of fashion, culture and knowledge is apparent, and as well as the insiders view the reader gains into the life of the Olsens, frankly I would have bought it for the photographs alone. As a little treat, I’ve included my favourites here - I am good to you…

Ed Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff have been around for a few seasons now, but it was there AW09 collection that really made the fash-pack sit up and take notice. I’m all too aware that everyone has blogged them to death already, but with images like the two below on their website, and the amazing level of deconstruction in their clothes, how could I possibly miss them out? They are a biker-chic-scruffy-loving-grunge-gals dream, but with embellishment galore and a slick undercurrent of mannish tailoring.

Usually when I blog about a designers work, I select my favourite six images and write about those, but with the Meadham Kirchhoff AW09 collection, I couldn’t possibly limit myself that drastically. Style.com had provided us with twenty-three corkers, and so I managed (after much umm-ing and ahh-ing) to whittle it down to my fourteen, yes fourteen, favourites. The duo started off as menswear designers, which is apparent this season - tailored shirts, trousers and jackets were all sent down the runway, fully deconstructed and partly unravelling. The trousers were patched, embroidered and distressed, and the pair that drew the biggest gasp from my lips were those with split knee detailling. Breton tops were over-printed and turned into abstract wonders, while Manolo Blahnik boots were embellished and crystalled to within an inch of their stiletto-heeled lives. The matador jacket was an utter triumph, while the deconstructed and part-shredded crisp white shirt is bound to spawn a thousand copies, and within days I can almost guarantee there will be ‘DIY-Get-Yer-Kirchoff-Here’ tutorials all over the blogosphere.

Hello, my name’s Vicky and I’m a stud-aholic. By now you’ll know that I’m pretty much addicted to adding studs to things (so far a denim vest, bag, boots and tie-dye vest), and so far I’ve only worked with usual cone studs bought from a marvelous little shop on eBay. But the other day, while wandering around the temporary market where I work, I came across something a little bit different. All I need now is to find something to attach them to…

Since the dawn of time (OK, for as long as I can remember, anyway) I have been searching and searching for a pair of red patent brogues which apparently did not exist. Everywhere I went I found black, grey (actually bought those ones) and brown (always with heels, darn it) but no red. I was even prepared to compromise for blue, but there was no such shoe.

So imagine my delectation when I stumbled across the exact pair I had formed in my mind in none other than (shock, horror) Dorothy Perkins. As soon as I saw them, I heard myself gasp loudly (the shop assistant started edging away) and clutched them to my rapidly beating heart. They fit like a glove (frankly, even if they hadn’t I probably still would have had them) and are now living with me. I think we’re going to be very happy together….

Oh Alexander, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways….

You can’t argue with fact, and the simple fact is, Alexander Wang is cool. He hangs out with cool people (Erin Wasson is one of his best friends, and styles his shows) and designs a ridiculously cool label (see attached images for example) for cool fashion icons (Zoe Kravitz and SJP, if we’re name dropping). See? Cool.

Wangs AW09 collection was, in a word, immense. It summed up everything I like about fashion, and every one of the girls who stomped down the runway with apparent attitude represented the girl I long to be. The silhouettes were sharp, the embellishments were fierce and the colour was monochrome - it was sexiness personified. The metallic dress is clearly a serious contender for Balmain’s ‘dress-of-the-season’ crown, while the cut-out leggings continued the deconstructed theme that has become so popular this year. My out-and-out favourite, however, has to be the white slashed dress. Made from lengths of fabric joined together, it managed to be feminine and strong at the same time - just like the girl who favours Wangs designs.

I live in the arse-end of nowhere, and every time I see something wonderful from cheapo shops such as Primark or Peacocks in magazines, you can bet your bottom dollar that they won’t be appearing in a store near me anytime soon. So imagine my absolute delight when I found these three beauties (as seen in the Daily Mirror, I think) jostling for space at my local Primark. Happy days.

(NOTE: This photograph has made me decide that it could be time to rethink the old photography situations - I can’t possibly keep putting things on my bed or the ugly carpet to take pictures. Vintage material? Wallpaper? Answers on a postcard please….)